Book Review
By Dr. Jessica Magnani
In his introduction to The Oxford Handbook of Interdisciplinarity, Robert Frodeman argues that “interdisciplinarity represents a resurgence of interest in a larger view of things,” (xxxi) and consequently a shift away from the insularity of disciplinary thinking, a sentiment echoed in Daniel Sarewitz’s “Against Holism,” which notes that “reality is not divided up along disciplinary lines” (65).
The editors of this handbook undertake an ambitious project as they not only offer an overview of the current state of the field, but also identify a set of best practices that might serve as a means of expanding interdisciplinarity without codifying it. Part of the project also involves moving academic inquiry from “social irrelevance” (xxxi) to greater social purpose. Not surprisingly, Frodeman begins by explaining that “the solution to our social, political, intellectual, and economic problems does not simply lie in the accumulation of more and more knowledge. What is needed today is a better understanding of the relations between fields of knowledge, a better grasp of the ways knowledge produced in the academy moves into society, and a better sense of the dangers as well as the opportunities of continued knowledge production” (xxx).
Divided into five sections, the book assembles 37 essays from a wide range of disciplines—humanities, social sciences, engineering, religious studies, natural sciences, as well as other established and emerging fields. “Part 1: The Terrain of Knowledge,” offers an historical and theoretical framework of interdisciplinarity. In “Part 2: Interdisciplinarity in the Disciplines,” contributors reflect on the current state of interdisciplinary studies, often acknowledging that it acquires different meanings in different contexts. “Part 3: Knowledge Interdisciplined,” considers the emergence of new fields—such as ethics and technology studies—from the spaces between disciplines. “Part 4: Institutionalizing Interdisciplinarity,” looks at the challenges to administering, assessing, and structuring interdisciplinarity. Finally, “Part 5: Knowledge Transdisciplined,” presents examples of knowledge integration originating from social, rather than academic, needs.
Julie Thompson Klein’s “A Taxonomy of Interdisciplinarity” opens Part 1 by explaining the important distinctions between interdisciplinarity, multidisciplinarity, and transdisciplinarity, underscoring the notion that interdisciplinarity necessitates not bridge-building, but radical restructuring. Likewise, essays such as Craig Calhoun and Diana Rhoten’s “Integrating the Social Sciences: Theoretical Knowledge, Methodological Tools, and Practical Applications,” Cathy N. Davidson’s “Humanities and Technology in the Information Age,” and Carole Palmer’s “Information Research on Interdisciplinarity” point out the need for rethinking institutional taxonomies. While Calhoun and Rhoten critique arbitrary distinctions in the social sciences, Davidson and Palmer emphasize the urgent need for restructuring to meet the challenges and opportunities posed by emerging technologies.
In each of these essays, writers attempt to move beyond specialization and toward greater social relevance.
The Oxford Handbook of Interdisciplinarity is comprehensive and well-balanced, and the essays themselves are complex and provocative. It functions precisely as its editors intended—as a reference for scholars working in any area of interdisciplinary studies.
Works Cited
The Oxford Handbook of Interdisciplinarity. Eds. Robert Frodeman et al. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2010.
Image: Cover art for The Oxford Handbook of Interdisciplinarity via Oxford UP.